Local Vehicle Registration Fee, Section 4-17.2-1

“There is hereby imposed by the Board of Supervisors a Local Vehicle
Registration License Fee upon every motor vehicle, including but not
limited to automobiles, trucks and motorcycles, regularly garaged,
stored, or parked in the County.”

No Decal

Fairfax County used to issue windshield decals associated with
local vehicle registration (separate from residential parking districts
and the state required safety inspection sticker). This is no longer the
case. Though payment of the Local Vehicle Registration License Fee is
required, there is no longer any vehicle registration decal to
purchase or display. Fairfax County will not issue any traffic
violation or parking ticket for failure to display a Local Vehicle
Registration decal. There is none to display (again, this is separate
from residential parking districts and the state required safety
inspection sticker).

Fee Exceptions, Section 4-17.2-2

Vehicle Registration fees do not apply to:

Vehicles owned by the United States government, the state, or any
political subdivision thereof

Vehicles owned and used by diplomats, their families, and employees

Vehicles owned by full-time active duty military service members (and
qualifying spouse) absent from their state of residence

Vehicles used as a daily rental passenger vehicle

Vehicles owned by volunteer rescue squads

Vehicles owned by volunteer fire departments

Vehicles owned or leased by auxiliary police officers

Vehicles owned or leased by auxiliary police chaplains

Vehicles owned or leased by active members of volunteer fire
departments

Vehicles owned or leased by active members of volunteer rescue squads

The following applicants are entitled to exemption from the vehicle
registration fees on one (and only one) vehicle:

Seniors and People with Disabilities receiving Tax Relief under Chapter 4, Article
16.1 of the Fairfax County Code for that vehicle

Proration of Fees, Section 4-17.2-4(2)(c)

“Beginning as of July 1, 2010, vehicles with situs in Fairfax County
shall be liable for the Local Vehicle Registration License Fee under
Article 17.2 for the full calendar year 2010, and shall be subject
to monthly proration beginning in calendar year 2011 on the same basis as
specified for local personal property taxes, in Section 4-17.1-5 of the
Fairfax County Code. Please note the following exceptions:

Move-in’s from other Virginia localities with current decals/fees (see below)

In other words, the general rule is if your car has situs in Fairfax
County as of July 1, 2010, you will owe the full fee amount and will be
billed for such on your 2010 personal property tax bill. If you sold your
car prior to July 1, you will not owe a 2010 registration fee on that
vehicle (though you will still owe prorated personal property taxes). If
you purchase a car or move one into the County between July 1, 2010 and
December 15, 2010, you will owe the full fee for 2010 and will be billed
for such on your 2010 personal property bill (although see special rules on “move-ins” below). Continuing with
this example, if you sell a car between July 1, 2010 and the end of the
year, the registration fee will not be prorated. You will still be
charged the full amount for 2010.

In accordance with the law, beginning in 2011, DTA will prorate the
fee amount to correspond to the number of months liable. So, for
example, if you sell your car on April 30, 2011, your 2011 fee will be
prorated to only reflect 4 months of liability. If you purchase a car on
December 1, 2011, your fee will only reflect one month of fee liability.
Please note, 2010 represents a transition year and there is no
proration of fees for 2010. Fee proration does not begin until 2011.

There is an exception to the general rule above, found in Virginia Code,
Section 46.2-752(H). State code mandates that “no person who has
purchased a local vehicle license, decal, or sticker for a vehicle in one
county, city, or town and then moves to and garages his vehicle in
another county, city, or town shall be required to purchase another local
license, decal, or sticker from the county, city, or town to which he has
moved and wherein his vehicle is now garaged until the expiration date of
the local license, decal, or sticker issued by the county, city, or town
from which he moved.”

With proof of payment or purchase of the former locality’s fee, DTA
can waive or refund the Fairfax County registration fee that may have
been charged in the same year. If you have any questions, or to
provide proof of payment or purchase, please contact DTA at dtappd@fairfaxcounty.gov or
call DTA at 703-222-8234. This can also be handled at DTA’s full service
cashier counters at the Fairfax County
Government Center.

“Vehicles properly registered with a situs location within the towns of
Clifton, Herndon or Vienna, shall purchase a motor vehicle decal or pay a
local vehicle registration license fee to such town, if any, in lieu of
paying the Fairfax County Local Vehicle Registration License Fee under
this Article. If in any year the applicable town does not impose and
collect such fee, vehicles properly registered within such town shall
then be liable for the Fairfax County Local Vehicle Registration License
Fee for that year.”

(a) Moving from the County to a Town During the Same Year: “a
vehicle with a non-town Fairfax County situs location shall be liable for
the Local Vehicle Registration License Fee under this Article in any
given year, even if the vehicle subsequently moves to a town situs
location during that year. No refund or proration shall be provided upon
moving into the town, although a proration in accordance with subsection
c (see above) shall be allowed if the vehicle subsequently loses situs
within Fairfax County during the same calendar year.

Example— A vehicle moves from Reston to the Town of Herndon in April,
2011. The vehicle is liable for a 12 month fee for 2011 to Fairfax
County. The fee will not be prorated out to reflect the move into the
town. Fairfax County would stop charging its fee beginning in 2012 under
this scenario. However, if the vehicle is subsequently sold or moves out
of Fairfax County later during tax year 2011 (for instance, from the Town
of Herndon which is in Fairfax County to Maryland), the Fairfax County
fee for 2011 can then be prorated. Simply moving into the town of
Clifton, Herndon or Vienna during the year will not result in a prorated
fee. The full amount of the Local Vehicle Registration License Fee will
be due to Fairfax County for that year.

(b) Moving from a Town to the County During the Same Year:This is just the opposite of the scenario in (a) above. “A vehicle
properly registered with a situs location within the town of Clifton,
Herndon, or Vienna shall not be liable for the Fairfax County Local
Vehicle Registration License Fee under this Article in any given year,
even if the vehicle subsequently moves to a non-town Fairfax County situs
location during that year, as long as a comparable license fee has been
paid to such town for that tax year.”

Example— A vehicle moves from the Town of Vienna to Chantilly in June,
2011. The vehicle will not be liable for the 2011 Fairfax County fee. A
prorated Fairfax County fee will not be charged during the year of
move-in from the town. The town’s fee will be paid in full to the
applicable town. Fairfax County will not begin to charge its fee until
the next tax year in such cases.

Fee Amounts, Section 4-17.2-3

The amount of Vehicle Registration fees are as follows:

$18 for motorcycles.

$23 for any taxi or other vehicle that is kept for rent or hire
operated by a chauffeur for the transportation of passengers. An
additional fee of $5 is charged if the weight of the vehicle is more
than 4,000 pounds.

$23 for a bus used exclusively for transportation to and from church
school, for the purpose of religious instruction, or church, for the
purpose of divine worship. If the empty weight of the vehicle exceeds
4,000 pounds, the fee is $28.

$33 for all other vehicles with a weight of 4,000 pounds or less.

$38 for all other vehicles with a weight of more than 4,000 pounds.

Payment of Fees, Section 4-17.2-4(1)

“The Local Vehicle Registration License Fee shall be annually assessed
on applicable vehicles at the time such vehicles are registered with the
County, or the registration is renewed pursuant to Article 17.1 of the
Fairfax County Code. Any such annual fee shall be billed and payment
collected at the same time and subject to the same payment deadlines as
for personal property taxes set out in Article 17.1 of the Fairfax County
Code (see payment deadlines).

If you have questions in this regard, please feel free to contact DTA
at dtappd@fairfaxcounty.gov
or call DTA at 703-222-8234. Town Halls should be contacted
concerning the town rules for their specific decals or registration
fees.